ICE Arrests in San Antonio Surge to Fourth-Highest in U.S.

San Antonio has become one of the most active sites for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in the U.S.

The San Antonio ICE field office ranked fourth nationally in arrests recorded between December 19, 2025, and March 10, 2026, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.

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The field office recorded 5,860 arrests during that period, averaging about 71 per day, behind Miami, Dallas and Atlanta. Its combined total from January 20, 2025, through March 10, 2026, was 22,240, the seventh-highest among ICE field offices, the analysis found.

The analysis also showed that nationwide ICE arrests averaged more than 1,100 per day in early 2026, up from roughly 600 per day the previous spring. San Antonio’s increase has been steady.

The Impact on San Antonio’s Immigrant Community

Local officials say the enforcement push has reshaped daily life for many residents in a city where over 60% of the population identifies as Latino.

At an August 2026 news conference in San Antonio, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said fear of ICE was keeping some students from school and residents from attending places of worship or going to work. He also said businesses had lost employees, with some closing or nearing closure.

“Some students in San Antonio stop showing up at school. Folks are afraid to show up to their places of worship or even go to work,” Castro said. “Businesses have lost employees. Some businesses have told me that either they’ve shut down or they’re on the verge of shutting down and going broke.”

Nearly 1,500 Arrests Since January 

Nearly 1,500 ICE arrests were recorded in the broader San Antonio region, which stretches south to the U.S.–Mexico border, according to federal statistics cited by KSAT. 

Of those, nearly 900 involved individuals with criminal convictions, more than 400 involved people facing pending criminal charges, and about 140 were tied to other immigration violations, according to ICE statistics cited by KSAT.

A woman whom KSAT didn’t identify told the station that her husband, who she said was in the country on an expired visa, was arrested after work while dropping off brush at a city site. “People working to earn their daily bread, be careful because you’re an easy target for troopers and ICE,” she told KSAT. “They go directly to the places of work, where they know there will be groups of immigrants.”

People stopped by ICE officers have the right to remain silent and contact an immigration attorney. They don’t have to consent to a search of their vehicle or belongings, and they don’t have to answer questions about their immigration status.

Statewide and National Context

Statewide, Texas has accounted for a significant share of the national total. In a September report, KSAT Investigates cited university-project data showing 63,697 ICE arrests in Texas through August 2026, including 52,375 that led to detention. The nationwide arrest total was 262,768. DHS disputed the project’s findings in a statement to KSAT, saying it had not verified the accuracy, methodology, or analysis.

In August alone, ICE arrested roughly 50,000 people nationwide, approximately matching July’s record monthly total, NBC News reported, citing a senior Department of Homeland Security official familiar with preliminary arrest data.

The increase in San Antonio aligns with a broader acceleration of immigration enforcement under the second Trump administration, which has prioritized mass deportations and expanded cooperation between federal agents and local law enforcement. A quarter of all immigration arrests in July 2026 happened in Texas, as state-level cooperation agreements with ICE intensified.

At the same time, ICE has expanded its physical infrastructure in the region, including signing a $17 million contract to manage a new ICE warehouse in San Antonio, signaling long-term investment in local enforcement capacity.

What’s Next

While they don’t establish how many ICE arrests occurred within the city itself, the arrest figures show the scale of immigration enforcement across the San Antonio field office’s jurisdiction.

As debate continues over the impact of ICE arrests on the community and local cooperation with ICE, the question isn’t only how many people are being arrested, but how enforcement is changing life in San Antonio.